5V

Look It Up 5

http://sporadichappiness.wordpress.com

a·gen·cy

ˈājənsē/

noun

1.

a business or organization established to provide a particular service, typically one that involves organizing transactions between two other parties.

cul·ture

ˈkəlCHər/

noun

1.

a set of beliefs. values, and practices that sustains a particular people and also the produces of those people.

se·mi·ot·ics

ˌsēmēˈätiks,ˌsemē-,ˌsemˌī-/

noun

1.

the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation.

Two out of three of the words above are what I learned in class this week. Since I wasn't able to attend INQ this week to define the definition of agency correctly I just searched the google definition. The word semiotics and culture are the key terms we learned in MDS. The definition that I was told by my professor is different. She told us it meant 'the theory of meaning'. Although googles definition specifies he details of what its actually about. The word culture is describes how society reacts to an advertisement. If you have a certain target your trying to advertise to you have to know their culture and they way they respond to things. The definition under culture is actually the books definition. 

1. 
   

5I

Your body is your temple.

This week all female athletes were expected to attend a seminar discussing the importance of the health and wellness of women in sports. We learned that eating disorders and malnutrition is a common trend among female athletes. In order for females to keep a healthy body, they must eat enough calories and vitamins a day to maintain strong bones and a healthy body. There is a lot of pressure for female athletes to have a certain body type and look a certain way. These pressures can push them to develop bad eating habits that may eventually effect their menstrual cycles and bone health. Females have to be proactive so these issues do not arise.

5B

Time Management

http://www.affinitylive.com/company/blog/simple-yet-profound-tips-for-time-management/

After completing a schedule of my life for the past week I realized how much time I spend in the gym, eating, and sleeping. Practice takes up a lot of my time. All us athlete know after practice we want to shower, eat and sleep. Homework is the last thing on our minds. Luckily after practice we have to go to mandatory study table to get our work done. We have to complete 5 hours a week which is annoying but very helpful.

My classes do not take up a lot of time. After classes instead of going straight to sleep I should fit in a little studying. I focus on my pre practice or pre game naps too much. I recorded 18 hours of homework or studying time for the week. That's enough but if I had a big exam like the next coming week I would need to add more hours.

I noticed that I should get more sleep on the week days. The most hours of sleep I get a night are six and with my busy schedule that's not enough to be well rested. I should be getting eight to ten hours a night. Especially since I have been sick for the past 3 days.

For the rest of the semester I plan on taking less naps and sleeping at night when I need to get in my hours that really count. I need more energy during the day so practice, focusing in class, and getting homework done is easier for me. I also want to set a bedtime. Its not to treat myself like a little kid but it will be helpful when I need that extra hour of sleep for the game or my study tables the next day. From this assignment I actually learned that I need to manage my time a lot better.

5A

http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/partying-studying-funny-doormat

A social life, good grades, or enough sleep, pick two. That's college life. All three would be great to have but it's impossible. It's even harder is you're involved with a sport, greek life, have a job, or even have a work study on campus. Completing my first month college I now know the struggle of the first semester everyone had warned me about. As the semester goes by I am starting to learn how to manage my student athlete life and academics a lot better. Its way more challenging than I thought but being an athlete keeps me on top of my schedule and betters my organization skills.

A success I have had so far is getting my work handed in on time until my birthday. The WORST feeling ever is missing an assignment and knowing you can not miss a single one after. Instead of doing work I chose to go out and it was a mistake. It was fun at the moment but when I realized how it would effect my grade for the rest of the semester I knew I should've just stayed in and did what I had to do. The situation kind of reminds me of delayed gratification. In the moment I was turning 18 I didn't want to stay in my dorm while everyone else partied on my birthday. So I pushed work to the side for the night but realized it was due my midnight. I'm not ever doing that again. 

A quote from this weeks reading states, "If you skip any class even once then this suddenly becomes an option." (Tips: Note-taking; Monday Master Class: http://calnewport.com/blog/category/tips-notetaking/ ) I just replaced the word class with assignment. Personally I can't waste my education my parents are paying for. Since I missed one assignment in a weird way it motivates me to do all the others because I know this work is predicting my future.

This semester I plan to take my work week by week instead of focusing on the month. I will focus on what needs to be done at that time. In the long run it will show when my the semester is over.

3V

Look It Up

 

 http://sporadichappiness.wordpress.com/ 

Motivation is a psychological feature that arouses an organism to act towards a desired goal and elicits,controls, and sustains certain goal-directed behaviors. The readings that were assigned for  this week were all about motivation. Some were about self motivation, outside motivation, and your mindset when it comes to motivation. 

In my archaeology class I'm always learning new words. This week the word was Garbology.Yes it is the study of garbage. A cultures garbage deposit is a treasure trove of cultural information. Even though the items are discarded they reveal the truth about the society and what they used. 

3I

Get Involved!

http://www.southernct.edu/student-life/activities/officeofstudentlife/involvement/clubsandorganizations/  

Getting involved at Southern may seem kind of hard at first when you don't know anyone but the welcoming atmosphere at the club fair was a great way to start looking. The club fair this Wednesday was a great way to look for different activities that fit you. There are clubs for each major, intrarmerial sports, dance teams, and Greek organizations. Its easy to get information about the club and to find out where they meet. The members were friendly and inviting and let you know the truth about the club. They didn't sugar coat what was required to get into the club or organization. It was beneficial for a lot of my friends. I wasn't really interested since I'm involved in a sport I wouldn't have that much time to be fully involved. If I wasn't a student athlete I would have easily gotten involved in something they were pretty convincing.

3B

I am what I am.

 

http://lbcarfagna.com/2013/03/21/sarah-madey-is-the-authorcreator-of-the-athletes-creed/ 

 "Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity." Everyone has that thing they enjoy that takes little effort or thought. You do not have to force yourself into doing it because its what you love. That thing can be anything. Your mind is in a state where you forget about all the bad in your life. That thing is what helps you get through the day without hesitation. That "thing" for me is being an athlete.

I started playing sports when I was in 3rd grade and fell in love. I always liked the feeling of hard work. At an early age sports taught me that hard work really does pay off. My parents loved the fact that I was involved at a young age. It kept me active and entertained. As I got older I started to realize how much being an athlete affected my life. I kept me motivated to have good grades and stay on top of my work. I  set goals for myself every season. Especially in volleyball. All athletes want to be an All-American, All-New England, or All-State performer. All three would be even better. My senior year my goal was to be an All-State volleyball player I had only been playing the sport for 3 years going on 4 but I knew it could be done. 

Being an athlete teaches you how to have self discipline and motivation which is a huge benefit in society today. We're taught at an early age not to accept failure and to keep pushing. During drills that are extremely tiring we don't get slack from our coaches were expected to perform at the level they know that we can. During a game if your trailing by however many points that doesn't mean you give up it means you push yourself and the people on the floor with you.

By the time my volleyball season ended I was a 3 time All-Herald, 2 time All-Conference and  an  All-State volleyball player. Not only did I achieve the goal I wanted to I also proved to myself that if put my mind to something I can do it. Being an athlete is something that I love. Yes it gets tiring, difficult, and takes up a lot of time but I would not ask for a life any different. It makes me who I am.

  

3A

Fail, but don't except failure.

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/michael-jordan-quote

"There is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so"- Shakespeare

This quote honestly speaks volumes. It's basically saying that your perception of things is what you make it. If you want to achieve something but go into doing that thing with a negative mindset that's on you. When you believe in yourself and think positively things actually get done. I recently read an article that connects to this quote in a way.

The article What Is It  explains what a "mindset" is, which was discovered by Stratford University psychologist Carol Dweck. Dweck has been researching this topic for thirty plus years. She defines a mindset as beliefs about yourself and your most basic qualities. There are two types of mindsets; fixed and growth. People with a fixed mindset believe their basic qualities are there talent and intelligence. They don't spend a lot of time trying to better themselves but spend more time praising themselves for what they can accomplish without any effort. People with a growth mindset believe their basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. This all relates back to the Shakespeare quote. People's mindsets make them think the way they do. Someone with a fixed mindset can't deal with the thought of failure. Someone with a growth mindset can fail and it makes them push even harder to make improvements.

"Think about your intelligence, talents, and personality. Are they just fixed or can you develop them?"

I'm not saying this quote is close to Shakespeare but I can connect the two. A fixed mindset is the bad and a growth mindset is the good. Even though he says there is no good or bad we all can't help but think either negatively or positively. Having the right mindset is what gets things accomplished. I can help you realize that it's okay to fail but not except failure. Just push yourself!

2B

That's Embarrassing

http://futureblue.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/on-public-speaking/

I'm a very shy and quiet person and I have a very soft voice. I absolutely hate speaking in front of people that I know or don't know. The feeling of anxiety takes over my body and I just shut down. Even being called on in class makes me feel uneasy. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person who goes through these things. A goal I'm slowly but surely trying to do is conquer that fear of speaking in front of people. I just want to be confident in myself and know that I can do whatever I set my mind to.  

A goal I have set for myself is to take full advantage of my Professional Presentations class. The class is basically about bettering yourself while giving presentations or speaking in front of groups. My professor makes us do different skill builders every week. This week the skill builder was to talk about our best friend for 1-2 minutes but we were being graded on our eye contact with everyone in the room. The minute I stood up there I forgot everything I was suppose to say. It was pretty embarrassing because I started to talk about how my best friends were the only two to immediately contact me while my Pop Pop (grandfather) was in the hospital. While explaining this I started to cry. I felt my face get hot and the tears start to roll down my cheeks. But as I looked around the room I could tell everyone was giving me their full attention I felt respected. I know that my class understood where I was coming from and maybe one or two people recently lost someone they loved. I felt accomplished for the day and a little closer to my goal once I sat in my seat.  

Although this goal will take sometime to accomplish I'm ready for the challenges I will face in the future.

2A

College Problems

http://rebloggy.com/post/party-college-study-education-college-problems-university-collegeproblems-go-out/31762235292

This weeks readings were helpful. They gave my Inquiry class tips what to do and what not to in college. They can also be used in an interview or internship. The one that was the most helpful to me was Work Hard or Work Smart http://www.deliverfreedom.com/blog/work-hard-or-work-smart/. This article stuck out the most to me because it was mostly about time management and setting small goals for yourself. Time management is very important to me since I am a student athlete. Most students who don't participate in sports have a lot more down time than us athletes do. We have to manage are time a lot better than others. 

With time management comes setting goals. "Before your week starts or your day starts, get an assessment, get your plan in order, and then get after it again." Goals that we set will not be accomplished unless we out in the work and expect to fail sometimes. The key is just not to accept failure and keep trying to get what you want.The goals I usually set are academic and athletic. But most of my goals are getting my homework cone by a certain day. It helps that all freshman athletes have a mandatory study hall every week. We have to complete 5 hours a week and each day is a minimum of an hour and half that has to be done or we do not get credit for those hours. Its an advantage but they hours are late and it takes pale right after my practice. After practice I just want to eat and go to sleep but time management comes into play again I have to find time to take naps and keep myself well rested. I always have work hard in the back of my head I know if I work hard only good things can come out of it."Then, work your tail off. Work harder than you thought possible. You have way more in you than you can imagine" 

Weber, Tom. "Freedom Personal Development." Work Hard or Smart. N.p., 21 01 2009. Web. 7 Sep. 2013. <www.deliverfreedom.com/blog/work-hard-or-work-smart/>.

2I

Owl Pride Until The Day I Die

A proud owl is what I am. This Wednesday SCSU had a ceremony for all the freshman in the University. Although people were whispering, snickering, and not giving their full attention I was actually intrigued by this event. The part that was interesting to me was the 6 candle ceremony. Although i don't remember what all the candles represented I remember they were great values for us to have. The University has high expectations for us. Yes it seems like college wants nothing but your money but SCSU instills the six values in us that were mentioned so that we can be a class with pride. The things that were mentioned in the ceremony honestly makes me expect nothing but greatness in my future. 

2V

Look it up 2

After looking at several definitions of the word initiative, I finally found one that fits perfectly. The word means readiness to embark on bold new ventures. I defined it as taking the first step to start something new. This words relates to Inquiry in a way that hard to explain. In Inquiry we learn thee actuality of college. We learn we teach ourselves and we are in charge if doing our work. Basically we have to take the first step to do our work or do our laundry. We have to take the initiative to stay on task with everything that's going on around us.

In Archaeology today I learned the difference between identifying ecofacts and artifacts. When learning how to identify these things I had to learn the meanings of them. An artifact is something from the past that is made or modified by human hands. Basically something that was man mad. An ecofact is something from the past that is from the Earth. Human hands can not have done anything to it or that makes it an artifact. For example a shell that was made into a shell necklace is an artifact not an ecofact.